


Sould

by CrashDevil (cjdevlin19)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-05-28 05:03:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6315841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjdevlin19/pseuds/CrashDevil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean investigate an 'animal attack' and meet a young widow who catches their eyes.<br/>**************<br/>Maura had looked out the front window of her little townhouse when she heard the engine. It was loud, and sounded out of place in her neighborhood full of eco-conscious SMART cars and button-start hybrids. The car, a black 4 door muscle car, was gorgeous, but the men who stepped out of it, they were perfect. Tall, broad-shouldered and both absolutely rocking their suits, they looked like they had stepped out of a 'Hunks of Quantico' calendar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Infinity on High

There was a time when the worst possible thing Maura Stevens could think of was the death of her husband, Mike. But, once they'd been married for a few years, after things started to go a bit rocky, it was apparent that there could be worse things. She joked with her girlfriends about murdering him in his sleep, if she ever caught him cheating. And then, she caught him cheating. After that, a month past their 5th wedding anniversary, he left her. 5 months after that, he was dead.

Being questioned by the police quickly came to top her list of horrible things. The detective in charge of Mike's death was condescending and aggressive, jumping on her vocal fumbling like it was a sign of guilt and not a sign that she'd lost someone who she had loved deeply for more than a quarter of her life. Detective Sanchez poked her with proof that they were divorcing, which she had readily admitted during their first meeting. He prodded her with the story Mike's friend had overheard about killing the man in his sleep. He told her not to leave town, he'd have more questions for her. Then, the FBI showed up.

Maura had looked out the front window of her little townhouse when she heard the engine. It was loud, and sounded out of place in her neighborhood full of eco-conscious SMART cars and button-start hybrids. The car, a black 4 door muscle car, was gorgeous, but the men who stepped out of it, they were perfect. Tall, broad-shouldered and both absolutely rocking their suits, they looked like they had stepped out of a 'Hunks of Quantico' calendar. She rushed into the kitchen and turned on her coffee pot before stopping in front of the mirror in her dining room and checking her dark auburn hair. It wasn't that she thought she had a shot with either of them, guys like that pretty much _couldn't_ be single, but they were some of the hottest men she'd ever laid eyes on and she wasn't gonna look like crap when they walked into her home.

The doorbell pulled her away from fixing her make-up. She answered it with a smile. "Yes?"

"How you doing, ma'am? I'm Agent Gibbons, with the FBI. This is my partner, Agent Beard." The shorter of the two men said, as they pulled up two FBI badges. "Are you... is it 'Maura'? Maura Stevens?"

"Yeah, Maura. Like 'Laura' with an 'M'. My parents thought it was unique."

"We're going to need to talk to you about your husband, Mike." The taller one said.

"Of course." She said, opening the door wide and stepping out of the way. As she shut the door, she smiled, tightly. "Full disclosure, he was about to be my ex-husband. We were separated, pending divorce. Can I get you guys some coffee?"

Agent Gibbons smiled and nodded. "That'd be great. Black for me, but my partner will take it with as much sugar and milk as you can fit in there."

Maura had filled three mugs and put them on a tray, next to a carton of half and half and a small bowl of sugar. She placed the tray on her coffee table and pulled her mug up to her mouth as the agents grabbed their own. "So, uh, what can you tell us about your... not-quite-ex-husband?"

She sighed, leaning forward to put her coffee on the table. "I wish I could say nice things. I mean, he's dead. But... he was selfish, childish. He was incapable of seeing the consequences of his actions. He was a diabetic little slip of a guy who couldn't even be bothered to keep his blood sugar under control."

"Any reason you can think of that someone would... turn their dog loose on him?" Agent Beard asked.

"No. I mean, I know that when someone dies, it's the ex-wife that's the first suspect, the wife that's the second and since I'm somewhere in between those two, Detective Sanchez seems to think I'm some sort of super suspect. But I would never have killed him. I loved him. I fell for him in high school. I did everything for him. I mean, I cared more about him than he cared about himself. Like, I used to buy him candy every day in seventh period because he never had lunch money and I didn't want his sugar to fall. I can't think of anyone who'd want him dead. Apparently, though, someone overheard me saying I was going to murder him if he ever cheated."

"Well, that was just talk, right? I mean, I've had some women threaten some..." The green-eyed agent cut off his musing. "But that's just what women say, right? Not many would actually turn their exes into puppy chow."

"Yeah, exactly. Besides, my concept was much more elegant." The agents reach raised an eyebrow. She gave a nervous chuckle and sighed. "He was diabetic. Give him a nice big shot of insulin in his sleep and he never wakes up. It's a lot easier and a lot less messy than... whatever actually happened."

The agents exchanged a look. "You did plan." The bigger one asked.

"Yeah, well. As the song says, 'Would you rather be a widow or divorcee'?"

"What song's that?" Agent Gibbons asked.

"Oh, well, with names like Gibbons and Beard, you probably don't listen to much pop punk music. It's an Infinity On High lyric."

A look of recognition crossed the larger agents face. He smiled, sweetly, and leaned forward. "Well, we don't fight fair."

She smiled, brightly. "Well, all right, G-man."

Gibbons looked confused. "What's going on?"

"It's a Fall Out Boy song. 'Take Over, the Break's Over.'" Beard turned to his partner.

"Is this some of that girl-pants wearing, too much eyeliner music? Man, I am so disappointed in the state of rock music today, grown men wearing make-up."

"Are you kidding me? Girl pants are worse than Angus Young duck-walking around in school-boy shorts, or Freddie Mercury running around stage pantless? And Jagger's pants were so tight, you gotta wonder how he managed to have a family. Oh, man, and 'grown men wearing make-up', does the name 'David Bowie' mean anything to you? The appearance doesn't detract from the depth of the lyrics or pulse of the beat." The agents stared at her with their eyes a little wide. "Sorry. I'm a little... Rock music is kinda big for me. It's helped me through some... tough times."

Gibbons stood, his partner following suit. "Well, I think we've got what we need, for now. I'm sorry I insulted your music. You, obviously, have good taste." He smiled, brightly, green eyes sparkling as he handed her a business card. "You think of anything; anything that might help us find what happened to your... ex or anything at all, you just give me a call." She stood, her heart rate jumping as she realized that he might be flirting. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and walked them to the door.

"I love your car, by the way." She said, as they walked out the door.

"So do I." Gibbons said, proudly.

********************

Maura had come back to the business card half a dozen times. The cell phone number was underlined 3 times. She couldn't help but wonder if that was an invitation to call. Especially paired with the way he'd told her to call if she thought of anything. There was no way he was interested in her, though. He could have any chick, there was no way he was interested in a 26 year old widow who geeked out about pop punk music. She was staring down at the card for the 8th time when she heard the howling. The sound wasn't normal. As a scratching noise came to her front door, she pulled her curtain aside and looked out to see a giant black dog. She screamed and ran up her stairs and hid in her closet. She pulled her cell phone out and dialed the number on the card she'd been focusing on. 

"Hello?"

"Agent Gibbons!" She whispered, fear falling over her as she heard her front door breaking down. "There's a... a huge black dog, it's in my house. I think it's..."

"Where are you, right now?"

"Closet upstairs."

"We're on the way. Hold on."

She pushed her way to the very back of the closet and tried to keep from breathing too loudly.  Her heart was pounding as she heard growling outside of her closet door, which was soon replaced by a loud scratching on the door. She was trying not to cry out when a shotgun blast was heard.

"Sam! Toss me the knife." Maura had never been so relieved to hear someone's voice. There was a sound of a struggle, followed by the sound of a whimpering dog. Her closet door was yanked open and she let out a heavy sigh as her beautiful green-eyed savior came into view. He was wearing civvies; jeans, a green and blue flannel shirt and a thin denim jacket. He grabbed her arm and helped her out of the closet.

"What was that?"

"We'll explain later. I need you to grab a bag, fill it with clothes. You're gonna have to come with us."

Maura nodded and ran through her room, filling a gym bag with clothes. Once she'd zipped it up, she was ushered out of her house, through her broken door and out into the back of the gorgeous car. Her heart was still pounding as she stared at the two men in the front seat. "You guys aren't FBI, are you? That... that wasn't a dog."

"It was a hell hound." The green-eyed man said.

"We're not FBI. I'm Sam and this is my brother, Dean. We hunt monsters."

Maura took a steadying breath. "Did you kill it? I thought I heard... why was it after me?" She asked.

"It won't be the only one. If someone sent it after you, they'll send another one. Or they'll come get you themselves. We'll talk about it once we get you somewhere safe." Dean said.

***************************************

They pushed Maura into a motel room and rushed around the room, spreading a dark powder across the door and each of the windows. She sat down on the little love seat, her bag full of clothes on her lap. When they'd finally finished running around the room, they stopped to look down at her.

"So." She started. "That's what killed Mike, huh?"

"Yeah." Dean answered, sitting on the edge of one of the two full size beds in the room.

"You said someone might have sent it for us?"

"Hell hounds are... they answer to demons. They're used to draw souls down to Hell, more often than not." Sam said, softly.

"Why would-"

"You ever make a deal with a demon?" Dean interrupted.

"What? I just learned that monsters exist. I definitely didn't make any deals with one."

"You ever make a wish to someone? Someone who kissed you after? Maybe about 10 years ago?" Dean asked.

"No. I can count on one hand the number of people I've kissed in the last 10 years and I'm pretty sure none of them were demons. Look, if I'd ever had a wish suddenly come true, I'd tell you, but I've never been that lucky."

"Okay. Maybe it's a mistake, or maybe someone is targeting you for some reason. It probably ties back to your husband, so we'll look into that. You're safe here, though." Sam was assuring.

"Because of whatever you did with that black dust?" She asked.

"It's called 'goofer dust'. It's old school vodun. Or hoodoo, whatever you want to call it. It keeps most demons out, and pretty much every hound we've ever come across. It's safe."

Maura nodded. She felt pretty safe just being around the hunters. "Okay. Okay, so... hellhounds, demons, voodoo... you said you hunt monsters. It's all real?"

"Ghosts, witches, angels, demons, even dragons kinda exist."

"What about fairies?" She asked.

Dean grimaced and Sam smiled. "Yeah. Anything you've ever heard about aliens... fairies." Sam answered.

"Wow. That's crazy."

Dean looked down at his wrist and stood. "It's late. We should get some rest. We gotta track down the demon that owned that hound, tomorrow."

Maura nodded and unzipped her back, searching for something to sleep in. "Shit."

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Oh. I just... I was in a hurry and I didn't grab my pajama pants. I guess I'll sleep in jeans."

"Sammy, toss her one of your shirts." Dean instructed. "He's huge. It'll be a gown on you."

Sam handed her a grey T-shirt, before turning to Dean. "So, you wanna shoot for who takes the couch?"

"You are. I always get the bed by the door, dude."

"Dean, this is a special situation. It's usually just us, and I can understand you taking that bed, but why should you get the bed this time?"

"I'm older."

"I'm bigger."

"Guys, you saved my life. I'll take the couch. I'm the extra person, anyway." Maura said, standing.

The brothers looked between themselves. "No. It's fine. I'll take it." Sam said. "I can sleep pretty much anywhere."

"Yeah, well, I've got a smaller frame. I'll fit better." Dean said.

"Dean, I'll take it, it's fine."

The boys continued to argue as Maura walked to the bathroom. When she reemerged, the boys stopped arguing, distracted by the sight of her walking out enveloped in Sam's shirt. "Okay, why don't you guys go get changed and when you're done getting ready to crash, you can arm wrestle for the bed." They nodded and walked into the bathroom. As she listened to the sink turn on and the shower run, she lied down on the little love seat and curled up on her side.

She could feel them staring at her when they came back into the main room. "Did she just-?"

"Yeah, Dean. Guess she decided she wasn't gonna let us fight over it, anymore."

"This chick's a bit of a control freak. Is it weird that I don't hate that?" Dean said, grabbing the comforter off of his bed and gently pulling it over her.

"I don't even... want to talk about that, Dean."

Maura smiled a little as she heard the beds shift across the room.


	2. Trampled Under Foot

Maura woke to the sound of the boys talking in hushed voices. "Dean, I don't think it's fair to ask. Think about the state she's in. The man she fell in love with in high school, who she married, tried to make her life with; he died less than a week ago and a giant dog almost killed her last night."

"They were divorcing, Sammy. She didn't seem too ate up about it, yesterday, dude. Her state is fine. Besides, that's the Hunter Starter Pack. Death of someone close, close call of oneself, undeniable proof of what goes bump in the night, and a desire to shut them down. Think about all those questions she was asking. That wasn't fear, that was curiosity."

"She's 26. She still has a shot at a normal life here, once we get the demon that's tailing her."

"Normal life? Hell, Sam, half this town thinks she sicced a rabid dog on her ex-husband. She ain't having a normal life, not here."

"She can move. She doesn't have to get caught up in all this."

"Dude, she's smart. She's nice. She knows good music. I would love to have someone nice to look at in the rear view. I mean, you're pretty and all, but..."

"Tell me that you aren't thinking about inviting that very recently widowed woman into our world just because she's pretty."

"Don't judge me, dude. I saw how you were looking at her when she walked out in your shirt. Staring at her knees like you were a virgin again. At least I'm honest about it. And willing to look at the actual goods." He cleared his throat. "Who does it hurt to ask? I don't know if you've noticed, but we are losing the numbers game. The number of well-trained hunters has dropped dramatically over the last few years. Starting with Dad, we have lost so many. If she wants to, if she's interested, then we could use her. We could train her. If she's not interested, if it's too scary for her, then we save her life and go home. But I'm askin' her."

Maura hoped he wouldn't ask immediately. She needed some time to think on it. It was interesting, the thought of hunting monsters, but she was sure she'd end up getting herself killed. Maybe it was worth it, though, to help save lives. She closed her eyes again as she heard one of the beds squeak. "Hey, Maura. Come on." Dean said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned over and blinked at him. "Mornin'. How'd you sleep?"

She smiled and sat up. "I slept just fine."

"Good, 'cause I was afraid that the couch might've been too stiff."

"Nope. Perfect."

Dean smirked as she stretched. "Well, we're gonna head out, grab some grub. You wanna come with, or stay here where it's safe?"

She smiled. "If I'm with you guys, I'm where it's safe. Besides, I'm starving. Waffles?"

*********************************************

Maura entered the Waffle House down the street and immediately ran for the jukebox. Sam watched from the farthest corner booth as she looked through the choices, before she deposited a five dollar bill and began to press buttons. As she made her way over to the booth, Bohemian Rhapsody began to pump through the speakers. She sat down next to Dean and grabbed a menu.

"You picked some other music, too, right? I mean, I like Queen as much as the next straight guy, but, you did pick other music?"

She chuckled. "I had, like, 15 songs, Dean. None of 'em are repeats. Just relax."

"Excuse my brother. He's a jerk when it comes to music."

Dean scoffed, before turning to Maura. "You got brothers, Maura?"

She shook her head. "Mike had a little brother, but... he stopped talking to me way before Mike left me. No, I was blessed with big sisters."

"You're the youngest?" Sam asked.

"Yep. Baby sister."

"They gonna miss you? I mean, we did just pull you out of your place, leaving it a disaster." Dean asked.

"No. I mean, not immediately. One of them is in Georgia and the other is in Miami."

"Parents?" Sam questioned.

"Nah. They sold the house and bought an RV. They live off the grid, pretty much."

"Work friends?"

She shook her head. "I've got work associates, not friends. I work at Wal-mart. I don't talk to anybody if I don't have to."

"So, what's keeping you in the Panhandle? Your family already vacated." Dean asked.

"I was gonna leave, too, after the divorce. Never wanted to stay, but Mike was adamant. His family, his friends, they were all here. He couldn't bear to leave them."

The waitress walked up, took their orders and walked away. Dean cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee. "So, uh, after we eat, we're gonna head to your ex's place, try to find a clue about... his deal. You wanna come or should we drop you back at the motel?"

Maura recognized it for what it was, a primer question. If she wasn't interested now, Dean would probably drop it, completely. But she was interested. "I'll come with. I wouldn't want to be bored in the motel room. And I haven't had a chance to go through Mike's stuff since the whole thing was a crime scene."

"Before we take her out there, we should make sure she can-" Sam was stopped by Maura when she stuck her hand up and started to head bang.

"So, you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby. Can't do this to me, baby. Just got to get out. Just got to get right out of here." She sang, loudly, earning her an amused look from Dean and an alarmed one from Sam. "Sorry. Had to, uh, Wayne's World that. It was required. What were you saying?"

"Have you ever used a gun?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. My dad took me to the gun range a couple times when I was a teen. He even bought a .32 revolver just for me. It had horrible recoil, though. I was better with the .38 semi-auto. But, you know what I'm really good with? My PSE Premonition HD."

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"That is a 4 pound, hybrid-cam compound bow with a 50 pound draw weight. It gets 340 fps. It's a thing of beauty."

"You're an archer?" Dean asked.

She nodded, proudly as the chorus to 'My Own Worse Enemy' started. "Yeah. I don't know how much help that's gonna be against a hell hound or any other creatures of darkness, but I was thinking more zombie apocalypse when I picked up the hobby."

"Most things aren't really affected by, you know, shafts of wood. Maybe silver-tipped would work against werewolves or shifters. Mostly we just stick to shotguns and pistols, really big knives." Dean said, before tilting his head to better hear the song that started. "Is that...Zeppelin?"

"Yeah. Couldn't resist D'yer Mak'er."

"Marry me." Dean joked.

"Well, I'll have to get a death certificate for Mike, first, but hey, we'll talk."

Dean chuckled. "No, seriously. What kind of idiot would cheat on you?"

"Mike was an ass. He was selfish and lazy and for a long time, I was perfectly okay with that. I was just happy to have him. I was devastated by the thought that he might leave me. It wasn't that I was settling. I really thought _he_ could do better than me. I had some huge self esteem issues back then." She said as the waitress walked over with their food. She smiled politely, and waited for the waitress to leave before continuing. "And I mean huge. I weighed 270 at my biggest. I dropped down to 190 before the wedding, but after that, he pressured me into moving into his friends' house. They were terrible, hateful people who didn't like me much. I got depressed, hid in our room for days. Ballooned back up. I tried several times to lose the weight, but Mike would always sabotage me. He'd offer me the things he knew were my weaknesses. He'd make me feel bad about working out, because that was time I could be spending with him. I didn't realize he was manipulating me, trying to keep it where I couldn't find someone better."

"What changed?" Sam asked, trying to imagine this fit woman who sat across from him as a fat one.

"I did. Mike started to talk about children. The idea of bringing someone into the world, it made me evaluate my life. I decided that I wasn't happy just to work at Wal-mart, and raise babies the rest of my life. Somewhere, I decided that I wanted to _be_ someone before I _made_ someone. So, I went back to school. I decided I was gonna be a doctor. I started going to the campus gym 5 days a week. In the 2 years it took to get my associates degree, I lost 100 pounds. Mike realized I was becoming someone he'd have to keep happy to keep. I started telling him 'no' about things, became assertive. He didn't like that. He wanted a woman who'd stick by him no matter the shittiness he pulled. I was gonna stay, though. I didn't want to be a statistic. I didn't want to have to explain to my oldest sister that she was right about him. I even considered letting him stay after I found pictures of him and his ex-girlfriend on his phone."

"That's terrible. He was a horrible guy, gaslighting you like that." Sam whispered.

"Yeah. It's okay, though. He got eaten by a giant demon dog a week ago. I figure that balances it." She said, pulling a forkful of hash browns to her mouth.


	3. Carpe Diem

Maura hadn't been in Mike's apartment except once, but she knew where to start as soon as Dean got the lock picked. She ran to the kitchen, where a large wooden box sat on the counter. Sam walked up to observe her as Dean walked to the bedroom. "His box for mail, but he throws everything in here. If he thought a demon might be coming for him, he might've thrown something in here."

"Good thinking." Sam said, before pulling out the drawer next to the fridge and rifling through it. He moved to the pantry next, opening the door and stepping inside.

"Winchester!" A shout came from the bedroom.

Sam moved quickly, grabbing Maura by the shoulders and pulling her into the pantry, lightly closing the door behind them. He held her against his chest and shushed her. She steadied her breath and listened, intently.

"You killed my hound!" The voice was closer now, probably in the living room.

"Yeah, you should probably tuck tail, too, unless you wanna end up gutted like your precious shih-tzu."

"Where's the chick? I followed her here. She's mine, Winchester."

"I say, she's not. She never made any deal."

"She's gone into collections. If I go back down there without her, Crowley is going to have my ass."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should call the boss up to the job site, 'cause there's gotta be a clerical error here."

"Really, Squirrel? You know I have a Hell to run, and in order to do that, every soul counts. So, Moose, why don't you make this easy and bring her out so my demon can do his job?" The door to the pantry opened, slightly, without anyone touching it.

Sam pulled back from her and looked down. "He can be reasoned with." He whispered. "But he'll be more apt to if we cooperate. Ready to meet the King of Hell?"

"No, but not much choice, is there?" She whispered back before stepping out of the pantry.

"Oh, look at those eyes! And that arse. No wonder you're trying to save this one. Gorgeous. Now, stow the puppy dog act, luv, and tell these boys what you got from your deal, so we can get on with this."

She shook her head, vigorously. "I didn't make a deal. Never."

"Where's her contract, Crowley? If she's being collected on, she's gotta have one, right?" Dean asked.

Crowley rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, a long scroll appearing in his hand. "Just to get this over with." He said, before his eyes started roaming over the words. Once he'd made it halfway through the paper, he sighed. "Who wrote this? Even I think this is underhanded."

The King turned to the demon. "Find me the demon that brokered this deal. NOW!" A few seconds passed before another demon appeared, eyes glowing red. "Lenore. What is this?"

"That's a contract, sir."

"This is a 5 year contract. We deal in decades, don't we, Lenore?"

The demon looked flustered as her eyes turned brown. "Well, that was... Lilith said that Lucifer needed souls... any means..."

"That's only one of many problems with this, Lenore. I taught you better. It's poor customer service to screw over our clients. How could you let him sign for her?"

"But Lilith..."

"Lilith is dead! You answer to me. This is unacceptable. You're going to go through and void all the deals you made based upon this model, and then you're going to report to the dungeon for punishment. If you aren't done by the time I get back, I will track you down myself."

"Yes, sir." Lenore said, before disappearing.

Crowley turned around, setting fire to the contract with a tight smile. "There, it's gone. She's safe. If there's nothing else..."

"Wait." Maura said, stepping forward. Crowley cocked his head at her. "I have two very pressing questions. The first being: What the fuck just happened?"

Crowley smirked. "You should be careful about your wording, luv, especially when making vows in front of God and all your friends."

"My wedding?"

"You promised your soul to your husband during your wedding vows. Technically, it gave him power of attorney over it. He used it to bring his ex-girlfriend back from the dead."

Her eyes widened in rage. "Are you kidding me? He sold my soul to bring his whore back from the dead? If he weren't already dead, I'd decapitate him!"

Crowley laughed. "I like you. Do you wanna know what he sold his soul for?"

"Sure."

"10 million dollars. Definitely not a big dreamer, your ex. I believe that money belongs to you, now. Never actually finished that divorce, did you?"

"Wow."

"Was that going to be your second question?"

She smiled. "No, actually. If he is Moose, and he is Squirrel, does that make you Boris or Natasha?" She had affected a bad Russian accent.

"What do you think?"

"Boris was idiot, and ugly. You, sharp dressed brain of operation. Natasha, definitely."

Crowley smiled, before turning to Dean. "Oh, I like her. Do try to keep this one alive." He said, before disappearing.

"Did you just _flirt_ with Crowley?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Carpe Diem, right? Dean, he could've killed me. He could have held me to that contract, but he didn't. He let me out of it, told me I'm a millionaire and just left. It's a good day."

"Yeah, that money, man. It's crazy."

"How do you guys make money? I'm sure hunting doesn't pay."

"We hustle pool." Sam answered.

"Little bit of credit card fraud. Ya know, bullets and beer aren't cheap."

"Well, 10 million dollars could buy a lot of bullets."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna give us your money?"

"I'm gonna give you _me_. I want to be somebody. It's the reason my marriage fell apart. I want to save lives. Teach me how to be a hunter."

Dean shot a smug look at Sam. "We'd love to teach you. Let's head back to your house, grab anything you want to take with you to the Bat Cave."

"I'm going to call Charlie, see if she can find where Mike hid that money." Sam said.

"Who's Charlie?"

"She's a friend. A hacker. If that money is digital, she'll find it. If it's not digital, she'll find traces of where he might have hid it." Sam answered, pulling his phone out.

"Could she get that money for us? I wouldn't want to have to go to a lawyer to get it."

"Charlie's awesome. She's like a tiny, lesbian, tech Robin Hood. She can get it and set it up in a brand new account just for you." Dean started to walk back to the bedroom. "No reason we shouldn't check for valuables. They're yours now, anyway."

Maura walked around the living room as Sam put his phone to his ear. "Hey, Charlie. If I send you some information, would you be able, well not able but... will you look into this guy, see where he might have been hiding 10 million dollars from his wife?" There was a moment of silence. "No, he's dead. They were divorcing. The money's hers, we just kinda wanna find it quickly. Mike Stevens, Holt, FL. I can send you his social if his... well done. Yes, she is. I don't know, Charlie. She _was_ married. Yeah, I know. Well, she's coming back to the Men of Letters bunker with us, so... you can tell her yourself. Okay, let me know when you've found the... of course. See ya, Charlie."

Sam put his phone in his jacket pocket and smiled at Maura. "She's found the trace of the bank account. She's gonna set up a new account in your name and transfer everything over."

Maura pulled a picture frame off the wall and smiled, sadly, at it. "When I was in school, I was the fat kid. I had an IQ of 140, I played Dungeons and Dragons and I sang loudly in the halls of the school. I sang 'Desperado' in the school's talent show, when no one else my age could name a member of the Eagles. I wore the same black skirt and blouse every Friday for two years. But, even with all that, everything that should have made me the weird kid, or the nerd, I was the fat kid. It killed my self esteem. I couldn't see myself as anything but fat for a long time. I almost failed out of high school." She turned to Sam, her eyes beginning to water. "Can you imagine? I was a genius and I almost failed because I... I was sad. Mike saw that. He liked it. He cultivated it, fed upon it. It's crazy that being preyed upon is what gave me the ambition to be something more."

She threw the picture on the ground and stomped her boot on it, staring down at it. "I know you don't want me to be a hunter, Sam. I heard you guys this morning, but you saved me. If I could save people the way you guys do... I'm worth something. I wanted to be a doctor, to save lives. This isn't much... okay, it's totally different, but... I want to help people, Sam. Don't make it hard."

Sam stepped forward, putting a strong hand on her shoulder. "Being a hunter doesn't make you somebody. It makes you nobody. You're going to disappear from this town. Everyone is going to think it's because you killed Mike. You're gonna pick up assumed names, fake identities, fake federal badges. You're going to break the law all the time to save peoples' lives. And if that's the somebody you want to be, then fine. I won't make it difficult. You have to know the truth of what you're getting into before you commit, though. Dean and I didn't have a choice. You do."

Maura looked up and smiled at Sam. "I've chosen." She put her hand over his and locked eyes, purposefully. "You know, your eyes are a different color today than they were yesterday? They were blue yesterday. My grandma always said that people with changing eyes were trustworthy. They don't hide their soul, it's right there for everyone to see."

"Ahem!" Dean cleared his throat, loudly as he walked into the living room. Sam pulled his hand back and turned to his brother. "So, Mike's jewelry was all fake, he had no money stashed and nothing, really, of any value. I think it's time to head out. Back to your place?"

She nodded, crunching over the picture frame as she left the room. Sam picked up the picture to examine it. It was a younger Maura, in a strapless white cotton sundress, a tiara in her hair and a bouquet of red daisies in her hand. She was much bigger than current, but she'd worn it well, at least in her wedding photo. Dean walked over and looked at the picture over his brother's shoulder. "Hmm, she was still pretty hot, even chunky."

"You wouldn't have given her a second look at 200 pounds."

"You underestimate me, man. Fat chicks need love, too. It's good exercise."

"You've never..."

"You were at Stanford for 4 years, dude. There was no one around to judge me. You don't know." Dean said, walking away.


	4. B.O.B.

Maura grabbed more clothes, her bow and several arrows, and her all-important electronics but she didn't grab much else. She was happy to leave that town behind. She spent half of the 18 hour drive rocking out to Dean's tapes, but the rest was spent sleeping, laid out across the back seat. "Kansas, huh? Your top secret bunker is in Kansas? Never woulda thought."

"I think that was the point. Middle of nowhere, middle of the country, in a town with a population of 300. Where better to hide something?" Dean responded, pulling the Impala into the garage. Maura stared at the other classic cars in the garage as she pulled open the back door and pushed out. "Yeah, they're great, aren't they?"

She smiled, Dean's voice breaking the spell those cars had put on her. "Not as great as this one." She said, grabbing her bag.

He smiled and led her into the bunker, pointing at different sites and into rooms, explaining where everything was. "And this one's yours. My room is down the hall, Sam's is two halls over. Shower's communal. Get the feeling they didn't let the Women of Letters stay in the bunker. We'll come up with a system, a sign or something, so that we don't walk in on each other. Why don't you drop your bags, make yourself at home? If you go exploring, don't touch anything. Place had some dangerous... and some weird."

Maura smiled and walked into her room. She took just long enough to empty hey bags, set up her clothes in the dresser and hang her bow on the wall over her bed. Then, she went exploring.

An hour later, she walked into the library and flopped down into a chair. "This place is amazing. It's huge. It's like the TARDIS. Every time you think you've seen everything another room pops up. Only thing missing is a pool."

"We _have_ a pool." Dean said, setting a stack of books on a table in front of her.

She hopped to her feet, excited. "There's a pool?!"

"There ain't any water in it, but, yeah. Down past the garage, on the left." Dean finished.

"We have to put water in it."

"Why? It's not like we have a lot of time to play Marco Polo." Sam said, not looking up from his book.

"But swimming is amazing exercise. It's really good for you and low impact exercise is good, ya know?"

Dean shot a look at Sam before shrugging. "Sure. We'll, uh, fill up the pool. Ooh. I wonder if it's heated."

"Yes! Oh. I didn't grab a swimsuit before I went on the run. So, someone is gonna have to drive me into town to buy one."

"Of course, I will." Dean volunteered. "Why don't you go grab your purse? I'll meet you in the garage."

"Behave yourself, Dean." Sam said, as soon as Maura was out of the room.

"Come on, Sammy. It's swimsuit shopping. It's like when your little girlfriend asked me to help her pick out a prom dress. It might be completely innocent, at heart, but she's walking out of that store in the sluttiest thing I can talk her into."

Sam stood with a sigh, pulling his jacket off the back of the chair he was sitting in. Dean raised a questioning eyebrow. Sam fixed his collar and shrugged. "I'm not gonna let your opinion be the only one she gets. I'm coming with you."

"Spoilsport." Dean said, walking toward the garage.

*****************

They ended up in a mall in Wichita. Their first stop was The Body Shop, where Sam was so out-of-place he looked like he wanted to melt. Dean immediately grabbed a small hot pink bikini, with chocolate-colored fills, and handed it to her. Sam reached out from the chair he'd decided to occupy and handed her a plain blue one-piece. Maura smiled, politely, at the brothers, before handing the suits back.

"As a former fat chick, I can't get behind teeny tiny bikinis. I'm flattered you think I'd look good in that, but no dice, Dean. Also, not big on complete cover-up anymore, Sam." Maura said, pulling a one-piece off the rack and holding it up. It was a deep red, with large holes in the sides where the crest of her hips and her ribs would show. It had no frills, just some simple embroidery along the neckline. "This is more my speed. I'm gonna go try this on."

Dean dropped his weight into the chair next to Sam and waited. "Was really hoping for the teeny bikini."

"She's classy. Is that gonna be an issue for you, Dean?"

"That's not... shut up, bitch."

"Jerk."

Maura double checked herself in the mirror before opening the door and presenting herself. Sam's mouth dropped open a little and Dean's eyes swept over her. "How do I look?"

"Damn. You're makin' me question my love of bikinis. You look amazing."

"Um, yeah." Sam cleared his throat. "That looks great on you. That's the one."

Maura smirked. "I know what looks good on me, boys."

As she disappeared into the dressing room, Dean looked over at his brother. "You're glad she came with us."

Sam nodded, standing. "We're gonna need swim trunks." He said, exiting the store and walking toward the Pac-Sun.

**************************

After swimsuit shopping and getting her a dark blue skirt suit that she dubbed her 'Scully suit', she disappeared into Spencer's gifts. Dean stalked off toward the food court, muttering about needing pizza and Sam followed, complaining about the unhealthy food options.

When Maura walked up and dropped her bags on an empty seat, Dean was halfway through a greasy piece of pizza and Sam was almost done with a sub sandwich. "What'd you get at Spencer's? Anything fun?" Dean joked, wiggling an eyebrow suggestively.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I left my 'toy box' in Florida, so I had to buy a new one. I'll be right back. Those gyros smell awesome." Maura said, walking away.

Dean looked from her retreating form to the black bag on the chair across from him, then to Sam. "Did she just say she bought a vibrator? Like, with no shame, just admitted to it?"

"Maybe she doesn't think masturbation _is_ shameful, Dean. I mean, she _was_ married to a selfish asshole for 5 years. How much do you think he cared about her satisfaction? It's probably all she knows."

"That's depressing." Dean said, leaning over to grab the black bag.

"What'cha doin', Dean?" Maura asked, walking up with a gyro and a Greek salad.

"Snooping." Dean replied, honestly.

"Why? It's just a vibrator. I was due for an upgrade, anyway, so I bought a new one."

"Upgrade?" Sam asked, his brain conjuring images of huge, powerful vibrating monstrosities he'd seen in x-rated videos.

"Yeah. Mike wouldn't let me buy anything bigger than him. He was afraid it would stretch me and I wouldn't be, you know, tight for him, anymore. Forgetting, of course, that that isn't exactly how the female anatomy works and that I've been doing kegels since I was 6 years old. I didn't want him to be threatened by my toys, so I just... followed his little rule."

"Now, I gotta see it." Dean said, pulling open the bag and pulling out the box. The box said that it was 6 inches long and covered in silicon. "This is an _upgrade_?"

Sam covered his mouth to hide his smile. Years of living together, he knew that both he and Dean were feeling the same superior pride. Her 'upgrade' was smaller than either of them had been since they were kids.

"Yeah. It's about an inch longer and I'm not going to go into circumference."

"Than him, or your last toy?" Dean asked, putting the vibrator back in the bag.

"Him. My last toy was like... the size of an Expo marker."

"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry." Dean said. "5 years married to a selfish ass who didn't even have enough in his pants to make it worth you heartache?"

Maura pulled the bag off of the table and placed it with the others. "I do know that my sex life has sucked through pretty much my whole life, guys. 96% of all orgasms I've ever had have been through masturbation. At my age, I get that that's pathetic, but uh, stop with the pity looks. Please."

"Sorry." Dean said, leaning back. "So, can I say, it's really refreshing to talk to a woman who's completely candid about this stuff... without it being... you know..."

"Sleazy." Sam provided.

"Oh. Well... that's just how I was raised. Sex is nothing shameful. It's natural and so is masturbation. '98% of the population masturbates and the other 2% lies about it'. That's my favorite Billie Joe Armstrong quote." She said, spearing an olive on her plastic fork and scraping it against her teeth to drop onto her tongue. "Anyways, my parents were very open about sex. I mean, I watched my first porno when I was 8 years old. It kind demystified it for me. I didn't feel the need to go out and see what all the buzz was at 13 or 14 lie my peers did, because I knew it wasn't this big, forbidden secret pleasure. Unfortunately, the guy I finally decided to get it over with was a Minuteman and the man I married..."

Dean leaned forward again. "So, how long did you hold out? How old were you?"

"19. How old were you guys?"

"14." Dean responded, taking a bite of pizza.

"16." Sam mumbled.

"So, wait." Dean swallowed and wiped at his mouth with a napkin. "You've _never_ had good sex?"

"There were a handful of times during my marriage where the conditions were just right. Usually when he was just drunk enough to be a little rough and hold out a little longer, but not so drunk that he was sloppy or whiskey dicked."

"And that's the 4%?" Sam asked.

"Well, that and a one-night stand I had a few months after I lost my virginity. This chubby chaser who really did know what he was doing." She sighed.

"You don't seem like a 'one-night stand' kinda woman." Dean said.

"Oh, I'm not, but I was drinking and he was cute and... having made it to 19 years old without having _any_ sex, I figured I could take a ding to my record without internally labeling myself a slut."

"And then Mike came back into your life."

"Yup. He came back into my life in October the year I turned 20; we married in June."

"Well, thank God _he's_ gone. Seriously, I'd hand that guy his ass if he were still alive."

"Dean, it's not a big deal. I'm young. I've got time to make up for that bad decision, but until I have someone to make up those years of bad sex with, I will rely on electronic stimulation."

Dean fought the urge to offer himself to her and shoved a piece of pepperoni in his mouth.

***************************************

The buzzing sound could have been ignored. When Dean walked by on the way to his room, he was going to just keep walking, but the moan stopped him. The moan that sounded suspiciously like his name. He stopped outside her door and listened. The buzzing wasn't very loud and it went through phases of louder, then not-so-loud that painted a picture in Dean's head that stirred his pants. He could hear her noises, clearly. "Hnnn... Dean." He heard her pant through the door. Sam walked by the mouth of the hallway as Dean pulled his hands down the front of his jeans.

"Dean. What are you doing?" Sam whispered, walking down the hall.

Dean looked up at him, pulling his hands up from his pants. "Sam, I know how this looks..." He whispered.

"Uh, do you? 'Cause... looks like you're touching yourself to the sound of Maura touching herself."

"Dude... ain't even sorry. She's thinking about me." He whispered, proudly.

"Yeah, okay. How do you think she'd react if she opened her door and found you out here? I think she'd go Green Arrow on your ass. Maybe, move along." Sam quietly suggested.

Dean rolled his eyes and padded down the hallway to his own room. Sam stayed in the hallway and watched as Dean shut his door behind him. Once he was alone in the hall, Sam could hear the buzzing, too. "Oh. Yes. Sam.", hit his ears. His breath caught in his chest. The sound sent a thrill straight to his groin. He felt like a hypocrite as he rushed to his bedroom to deal with the erection that had popped up so suddenly.


	5. Welcome to Kansas

Maura padded lightly into the kitchen, her hair wet from a shower. Dean had to admit, this was the most refreshed she'd seemed since the day they'd come to her pretending to be FBI. He put a mug of coffee in front of her and went back to the stove.

"So, after breakfast, I'm going to take you down to the firing range. Teach you how to deal with recoil, find a gun that's good for you." Dean said, putting scrambled eggs and sausage on three plates and carrying them to the kitchen table. "And then Sammy's gonna tie you to a chair and we'll see how well you navigate knots."

Maura nodded and stabbed a clump of egg and pulled it into her mouth. "Mmm." She moaned, slightly. "These eggs are really good."

Dean smirked, but Sam hid his face in his hair. He wasn't embarrassed that he'd heard her masturbate, he was ashamed that he'd run to his room and masturbated because of it. His mind drifted, shamefully, to the memory of her breathy words. _"Yes, Sam."_ He couldn't look her in the face right now. Sam pulled his coffee to his lips. "Hey, how'd the pool come out? You got it filled yesterday, right?"

"Yep. Did a bit of research on chemicals and stuff for indoor pools. I was gonna ask to borrow a car and head out for chlorine and pool shock. All the stuff in the supply closet is pretty degraded." Maura said.

"Yeah. Sounds good. Once you get the chemicals, how long til we can see you in that bathing suit?" Dean asked, sitting across from Maura with his own plate.

"If you ask nicely, you can see it now." She chuckled. "No, um, 24 hours. Gotta let the chemicals set."

Sam chewed on a piece of sausage as his mind fell over Maura. She had a thing for him, that was clear from last night, but it was obvious she was attracted to Dean, too, and Sam found himself in the same 'nice guy' part of the Triangle he'd been in last time.

"Dean, she flirts with both of us, and you weren't the only one she was thinking about last night. I'm afraid this is gonna turn out like Mimi Parks." Sam confessed a few minutes after Maura left to get changed for training.

"Who?" Dean asked, clearing his dishes from the table.

"Mimi Parks. I was 12, you were 16, she was 14. She liked me because I was nice and smart. She liked you because..."

"Because I'm me. Yeah. I remember. She was hot, had that beautiful singing voice."

"And we fought over her. I mean, she's the reason we started the prank wars. Because we were gonna kill each other if we didn't find a safe outlet."

Dean turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "You think that's gonna happen here? We're adults, Sammy. We'll deal with this like adults."

Sam couldn't hide his amusement at Dean suggesting the high road. "Yeah? How do adults deal with love triangles?"

Dean patted Sam on the back and headed for the armory. "Devil's three-way, Sammy."

********************

Dean handed Maura a Glock 9mm and taught her every piece of the gun. Taking it apart seemed to be her favorite part of the preliminary lesson. "All right. Now we're gonna fire a couple. I made some targets up, just for you. Spent all morning at Kinko's." He said, walking to another stall and grabbing a large paper picture. It was a picture of Mike, standing in a Superman pose with a Captain America mask on. "What do you think?"

"I think I'd like to shoot that. But what if I wanted more incentive than just my ex's ugly mug?"

Dean turned to her, after placing the target and walking back to the stall. "What other incentive do you want?"

She picked up the gun and cocked it. "I want a kiss. One for every headshot."

"I think we can-"

She turned and aimed, quickly pulling the trigger. "From Sam." She finished, looking at the target, where she'd just barely missed her ex-husband's head.

Dean scoffed. "He was right. You _are_ sweet on both of us."

"How could I not be? Have you _seen_ you guys?" She took another shot at the target, putting a bullet through the A on Mike's mask.

"Try for a heart shot." Dean said, moving behind her and putting his hands on her hips.

"What do I get if I land one of those?" She asked, turning her head to look at him. Her heart was pounding. It was easy to be confident when she could play it off as a joke, but this wasn't a joke.

"Whatever you want... or whoever." He smirked as she squared herself and aimed. Maura took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. The gun recoil pushed Maura's arm back a little but the bullet hit. "Aim a little more to the right and a little higher. Punctured lung isn't gonna do anything but piss off a shifter or a werewolf."

Maura adjusted her aim a little and pulled the trigger again. "Well, look at that. Right through through the breastplate." He said, reaching over her shoulder and plucking the pistol out of her hands. He pressed himself against her back and leaned down next to her head. "What do you want for reward?" His breath skated across her ear as he asked.

She turned and looked up at him. She lost her nerve as soon as her eyes fell on his face, so she looked down and pulled away. "Let me get back to you on that." She grabbed the door and rushed out.

Dean followed her into the hallway, grabbing her hand and spinning her back around into his arms. "Stop. Breathe. Calm down." He said, one arm going around to her back to support her and the other going to brush her hair out of her face. "You don't have to be scared of this, Maura."

"I'm not-"

"Yeah, you are. You're perfectly fine when you can play off your flirting as a joke, but when things get serious, you run. I get it. Mike fucked you up. But I am not going to hurt you like he did. And if you want my brother, you can bet he won't hurt you, either. Okay? And we're not going to force you into anything, but don't let your nerves fuck you out of something amazing."

"I-" She looked down, unable to stand those beautiful green eyes staring into hers. "It sneaks up on me, you know? I know me. I know I'm strong, that I'm not the Maura I was when I married him, but the old me, with all her insecurities, sneaks up on me. You and Sam... you're strong, amazingly confident... my saviors. What if I'm not good enough?"

"Hey." Dean lifted her chin to force her teary blues to focus on his sparkling greens. "What do you mean, 'not good enough'? You're beautiful. You're smart. You know good music. You know good cars. You look amazing in a bathing suit." He smiled, sweetly, at that. "You are shameless in such a good way. I've met a lot of women and I can count on one hand the women I actually admire. You're on that hand."

"You barely know me."

"Yeah. That's true. But that also doesn't matter. You're pretty open with who you are. I'm pretty open with who I am. Sammy hides. Just FYI." He said, with a smirk. Maura smiled up at him, his hand still keeping her chin tilted. "I'm gonna kiss you, now." He dipped his head and waited a moment before lightly pressing his lips against hers. She went to her tiptoes, pressing her lips more firmly into his.

"Hey, Dean! You guys done on the range?" Sam's voice called down the hall.

Maura pulled away from him and a blush pushed across her face as Sam turned the corner halfway down the hallway. "Yeah, Sammy. I was about to send her your way. She got a head shot and a heart shot. I was right, the 9 mil's a good gun for her. Oh, and, uh, you owe her a kiss." Dean said, before walking back into the range and shutting the door.

"What?" Sam asked.

Maura chuckled. "Dean asked what I wanted for incentive if I did well on the range. I said I wanted a kiss from you. It was a joke."

Sam nodded, with a smile. "Come on. Let's go tie you up." He walked back the way he came and she followed him to the war room. A plain wooden chair sat in the middle of the room and several lengths of rope lay on the map table. "We're gonna start with something simple. I'm going to just tie your hands together behind your back."

"Is this something that happens a lot, in hunting? The getting tied up?"

Sam chuckled, a smile pulling at the left side of his mouth. "More than _I_ would like, yeah. It happens a lot."

"Why'd you say it like that? You emphasized more than _you'd_ like."

Sam shrugged. "I'm sure there's hunters out there with bondage fetishes, ones that like it."

"Never _been_ tied up before." She said, as Sam grabbed a short length of blue nylon rope and walked around behind her. "Bought a pair of fuzzy handcuffs once, but Mike was too much of a bitch to try it. They ended up in the toy box and never got used."

"Handcuffs are next. We'll have to teach you to pick the lock on 'em. Invaluable knowledge." Sam said, leaning down to wrap the rope around her wrists. "Is that tight enough?" Sam walked around in front of her and she twisted her hands in the binds.

"Uh, yeah. It's fine."

"Well, then, I can make it tighter. Most of the time, you're going to get tied up by-"

"It's tight. I was just trying to... act big. It's tight."

"I know. I made it tight, on purpose. Now, try to get out of it. The main goal is to get it loose before your fingers start going numb. If you lose function in your fingers, you're not going to be able to get out of it." Sam stepped back and watched her. "Try to keep your arms from moving too much. You don't want to bring attention to the fact that you're getting out."

Maura twisted her hand and ran her fingers over the knot to get a mental picture of it. Simple square knot. She grabbed one of the loose ends and twisted it to tighten the rope and pushed it up into the knot, causing it to loosen. She twisted her other hand and pushed her first finger into the gap in the knot and worked it even looser. She pulled one hand from the binds, then raised both in triumph. Sam smiled, proudly. "Good job. Most people are going to use some variation of that knot, so... you've... got that down. You did that fast."

"Well, I mean, it's different doing it backward without eyes on it, but I'm good with knots. My oldest sister did crochet and I Maniac McGee'd her yarn knots all the time."

"Maniac McGee?" Sam's eyebrow shot up as he grabbed another piece of rope.

Maura blushed in embarrassment and looked down. "It's a book. Eh, he, uh, he was really good with knots. Like, legendary. They threw a parade for him. It's a kids book and it's silly, but... stuck with me."

"That's cute." Sam said, with a small smile. "Let's try it from the chair."

She sat in the chair and Sam knelt down behind her, tying her hands to the chair, instead of to each other. "I don't know if I can do this one. Without two hands working together, you know?"

"Well, try." Sam said. Maura struggled against the ropes for a few moments and Sam swallowed. He might not like getting bound, but there was something alluring about watching her struggle. She looked up, blue eyes shining with frustration. "Good. Guess this is as good a time as any to give you what I owe you."

"What?" Sam didn't answer, leaning down to press his lips against hers. His left hand came to her cheek to caress the soft skin there. "You gotta be kidding me." She whispered as he pulled away with a smile.

"What?"

"You kissed me. You tied me up to kiss me."

Sam shrugged. "Tied you up because you needed to be tied. Then, I thought 'how better to see if she likes bondage than to tie her up and kiss her'. I mean, you were curious, right? That's why you bought furry cuffs." He smiled and put his hand on her thigh. "I'm not a bondage guy but this is a good look on you."

Maura laughed. "You Winchester boys. Dean got all hot watching me shoot and you like a girl tied to a chair."

"I like you whether you're tied up or not." Sam said, kneeling down behind the chair and loosening the ropes.

"This is a prank, right?" She laughed.

Sam stood as she brought her hands around to rub her wrists. "What prank?"

"You and Dean, you're fucking with me."

"Not yet." Dean's voice called, walking into the war room with three sandwiches on a plate and set them on the map table. "I mean, give us a bit of time and we'll be more than happy, but..."

"We'll need to get some protein in us first, you know. I mean, we'll have to make sure that we can bring up your percentages." Sam joked, with a smile, grabbing a sandwich off the plate. "I'm assuming that's why Dean went with peanut butter instead of ham and cheese."

"Ha. You guys are funny." Maura said, grabbing a sandwich.

"Sweetheart, we are _not_ joking. You are hot. We're hot. You're hot for us. Don't worry, we'll wait for you to get on board." Dean said, picking up the last sandwich and taking a bite out of it.

"Shit. I was hoping to get the attention of one of you and I lucked my way into a Winchester sandwich."

"Well, I don't know about a sandwich. I might tag Sammy in for sloppy seconds, but..." Dean said around a mouthful of sandwich.

Maura laughed and took a bite of her sandwich. "If you guys need me, I'm gonna be at the range."

"Hey, the 9 mil is-"

"I'm gonna be shooting my Premonition, thank you. I haven't had any quality time with my shafts of wood, lately." She said walking toward her room.

"Dude, she just doesn't get it, does she?" Dean asked, sitting down and putting his boots up on the map table.

"How amazing she is?" Sam confirmed. Dean nodded. "Maybe she just doesn't want us. I mean, you kissed her, right?"

"So did you."

"Yep. And neither of us got further than that. So, maybe, uh..."

"Don't finish that sentence. She's just shy cause the last guy she had was an absolute ass." Dean's phone began to ring so he pulled it out. "Ghostbusters."

"Open the door, Bitches!"

Dean hit Sam's chest. "Hey. Charlie's here. Go let her in."

Sam tossed his sandwich on the plate and walked toward the spiral staircase. The redhead bounced in and wrapped her arms around Sam. "Okay, so where is the sexy widow Stevens?"

Sam chuckled. "She is in the shooting range, putting arrows into pictures of her dead husband."

"She's an archer? Like, full Ollie Queen?"

"I haven't actually seen her with the bow, so I'm not sure, but... based on her confidence about it, I'd put her level at 'Elvish'."

"Oh, you are speaking my language. Point me in the direction of the shooting range. I have ATM and credit cards and new ID for your Arwen Evenstar." Charlie said, pulling a thick envelope out of her messenger bag.

"I'll take you. It's easy to get lost on the way."

"Hey, Charlie." Dean walked up, wrapping an arm around her. "Before you meet her... Yes, she's hot. No, she doesn't know it. Sam and I have been workin' her pretty hard, so if you come in and ruin this for us, we'll never forgive you."

"Oh, are you afraid of a little competition, Winchester?" Charlie asked, pulling away.

"That's not what I said, Charlie. I said, 'don't ruin this'."

"I can read between." She said, patting his back and following Sam toward a hallway. As they approached the room, muffled music came through the door. "Is that Country?"

"She is from North Florida. That's basically Alabama."

"You feeling superior, Kansas?" Charlie asked as she opened the door and Miranda Lambert washed over them. They stood behind her and watched as she put 3 arrows, in rapid succession, into the face of the picture. "Look, no quiver. Ready on hand. She rocks."

Maura turned and smiled, grabbing her phone and switching off the music. Charlie rushed forward with a smile. "You are such awesome-sauce with that. How'd you learn to do that?"

"It started with a Clint Barton fixation and my dad jumped at a chance for us to go out in the woods and do something together, so... Also, you know, Zombie Preparedness Plan, gotta have a quiet and easily sustainable weapon."

Charlie turned to Sam, slapping the back of her hand against his chest. "She's a nerd?! You didn't tell me she was nerd!"

"Age of the Geek, baby." Maura said, walking out to retrieve her arrows. "You must be Charlie."

"I am. And you are the widow Stephens, AKA Guinevere Mallory, AKA Ellen Ripley, AKA Samantha Aran." Charlie said, pulling a driver's license out for each name. "Can I say, you are way cuter than your Facebook profile let on?"

"Thanks. So, these are all me, huh? I kinda like the idea of being Ripley." Maura asked, picking up the IDs.

"Yep. Clean social and I built a credit history for each of them. And they all have access to this bank account, which is fed by this account in Switzerland. Every time the B. of A. account goes dry, $9000 will be transferred from the Credit Suisse account." Charlie pointed to several numbers on a piece of paper she pulled from the envelope.

"Wow. You're amazing."

"Well, it's your money, right? Just making sure the new you has access to it." Charlie said, with a shrug. She looked at the holey target and raised an eyebrow. " _You_ were married to _that_?"

"You know... I didn't marry that." Maura pulled up her phone and flipped through her photo gallery. She flipped it around and showed Charlie and Sam a picture of her at 270 lbs. " _She_ did. Maura McManus, with social anxiety and low self esteem and 150 extra pounds on her body. _That_ mess of a man was a blessing to her. She worshiped him. Really thought she'd won the lottery finding someone, at all."

"Well, I'm glad you aren't her anymore. You have gotten over the low self-esteem, right?"

"I'm cookie dough. One day, I'll be delicious cookies but right now, still baking."

"Buffy quote. Awesome!" Charlie said, raising her hand for a a high five, which Maura rewarded her, then she turned to Sam. "All right. So... where's the kitchen in this place? I'm starved." 

"We'll take you." Maura said, with a smile.

 

Charlie smirked. "Don't forget the bow. That thing is super sexy on you." She winked as Maura grabbed the bow and nodded for her to follow.


	6. Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a small mention of the boys not being 100% straight in this chapter. If you don't like that, skip past the "I never" sequence.

"So, Maura. How long you planning to stick around Chez Winchester?" Charlie asked, reaching out to grab a beer from the fridge. 

"Oh. As long as they'll have me, I guess. At least until I feel confident hunting."

"You should figure out how to hunt with your bow. Like silver arrows or something. Salt-dipped iron arrows. You are amazing with that thing and, really, so hot."

"Hot with a gun, too." Dean said, grabbing himself a mug and heading toward the coffee machine. "Which is a lot more practical."

"I got nothin' against a pistol, Dean, but you haven't seen her with..." Charlie began, but was cut off by Maura grabbing the bow and two arrows, rapidly shooting them past Dean's head into the sign above the coffeemaker.

Dean raised an eyebrow as he looked at the two shafts of wood, one through each O in 'food'. Charlie laughed as Maura sat back down. "You... I'll give it to ya. That's... pretty hot." He pulled one of the arrows out of the wall and examined it. "We might be able to do something with that. I mean, the pistol is the more practical weapon, but... salt-dipped iron might work. We'll look into it. I mean, we can make shotgun shells with rock salt, so..."

"Arrow-making is pretty hard, actually. Not the whole thing, I mean, the shaft and tip are pretty easy, just make sure they're straight and pointy respectively, but the fletching, um, the feathers..." Maura ran her eyes over the plastic feathers at the knock end of the arrow in her hand. "If you don't get the fletching just right, it completely fucks the way the arrow flies."

"She's full of awesome knowledge, isn't she?" Charlie took a drink of her beer and sat at the table. "So, I'm thinking, it's a down night. No one to kill, nothing to hunt. I think, it's a good night for games. Drinking, video or board varieties?"

Dean shrugged and Maura looked up at the ceiling. "How about... all of 'em? We can start with video games, then do some drinking games, and that will make the board games more fun."

Sam nodded. "Sounds good."

*************

"All right, no more Halo. Bow to the queen." Maura said, standing away from the tv in Sam's room, where they'd gathered. She gave Charlie an exaggerated bow and grabbed a beer from the cooler they'd brought into the room to facilitate laziness.

"So, drinking games?" Dean asked. "We thinkin', what, King's Cup?"

"We could watch Fellowship and take a drink every time Orlando Bloom botches his archery." Charlie suggested.

"We'd be drunk in, like, an hour." Maura chuckled.

"Legolas doesn't even show up until an hour, oh, I get it." Dean said.

"How about 'I Never'? It's pretty fun and a great way to learn about your friends." Maura suggested.

"What's 'I Never'?" Dean asked.

"Please excuse him. He never went to college." Sam said, standing to grab a beer.

Dean shot his best bitch face at Sam's back as Maura chuckled. "Well I'll give you the rules my girlfriend told me at my 16th birthday party. Go around in a circle, each person says something they have never done. Anyone who has done that thing has to take a drink. Like, Charlie could say 'I never have been married' and I would have to take a drink. Then you move on. If you want an explanation, though, you can pay for one with a shot. Say, I drink to the married comment, but so does Dean... Dean has to explain himself if someone takes a shot."

Sam looked down, and sniffled. "That brings up a good question. If we were under a spell, do we have to drink?"

"Yeah. It still counts, Moose." 

"Oh, don't call me that." Sam whined.

"Spelled or not, Sammy, you still did it." Dean winked at his brother and settle in next to Maura. "All right. I'll start. I have never had sex with a demon."

Sam rolled his eyes and took a drink, prompting Maura to raise an eyebrow. Sam glared at Dean as he said, "I've never had sex while listening to a Metallica song."

Dean and Maura both drank to that one, then nodded appreciatively at each other. "Let's make this easy on you all. Never have I ever hacked anything." Maura smirked as the rest of the group all drank.

"I've never had sex with a man." Charlie said, smugly. Maura pulled her beer to her mouth, raising an eyebrow as Dean and Sam both took quick drinks of their beers. "Oh, I have to hear about that. Dean?" Charlie took a shot of tequila and looked at Dean, expectantly.

Dean closed his eyes and pursed his lips. "I was drunk, 19 and he was... flattering. Can we move on?"

Maura took a shot and pointed at Sam, who sighed. "One of the times I ran away, there was this street kid who was a few years older than me.... can we not?"

"Uh-uh. I paid for this. How'd this happen?"

"He helped take of me and I showed my appreciation." Sam finished.

"Neither of you look surprised by this." Charlie remarked.

"We're brothers. We know everything about each other." Dean answered, before clearing his throat. "Um, I've never had sex in the front seat of a car."

"Wait, are we going by the 'Clinton' definition of sex or are we going by the Catholic Church definition?" Maura inquired, raising the beer but not drinking from it.

"Let's go with the church version."

Maura and Sam took a drink and she chuckled. "I feel bad that you've never gotten Road Head before, Dean."

"It's on my bucket list, sweetheart."

"I've never had sex in a hammock." Sam looked pointedly at Dean, who rolled his eyes and took a drink.

"I've never sexted anyone." Maura smiled as everyone else took a drink.

"Wow. You're good at this." Dean commented.

"I've had a sheltered life. There's lots of stuff I haven't done that most people these days have."

"I've never watched Hentai." Charlie continued.

Sam took a drink then slapped Dean's chest. "Asian cartoon porn, dude."

"Oh. Yeah. I love that stuff." Dean took a drink and cleared his throat. "I never ran away from home."

Sam and Charlie took a drink. "I've never had a three-way."

Dean and Charlie took a drink. "I've never kissed a girl in a bar."

"Jeez, Maura. You're relentless. I like it." Charlie commented as she finished her beer. "I've never died. Sorry, boys."

Dean stood and grabbed another beer for himself and one for Sam, who both popped them open and took a drink. "All right. How we feeling?"

"Uh... ready to fuck you guys up on Sorry... or fail at The Checkered Game of Life." Maura said, drinking the last bit of her beer and going for another one, pushing past Dean to the green cooler.

Dean stared her down as she put the beer to her lips. "I can think of other games to play." He said, quietly.

"Why don't we just ruin the party with some Monopoly?" Charlie offered.

"What about Twister?" Sam looked up from his spot on the floor and raised an eyebrow at Maura.

"You know, you guys... I think I'm just fine with a game of... Marco Polo. Pool should be ready." Maura twisted and walked backward out Sam's door. "Get your swim trunks, and scrounge up something for Charlie to wear."

Charlie, Sam and Dean watched as Maura disappeared down the hall. "She's a tease." Charlie sighed as she stood.

"She's not teasin' _you_." Dean set his beer on Sam's dresser and shook his head. "At least we get to see that swim suit in action. I might have a pair of shorts for you, Char. Come on."

********************

Maura was already swimming laps back and forth by the time the others made it to the pool. She made it back to the shallow end and swam up to the side of the pool. "You guys, it's amazing in here."

"Looks like." Sam dropped his towel on the tile and jumped into the water. He came up next to Maura, pushing his hair out of his face. "It's a perfect temperature. And... that bathing suit looks even better wet."

Maura kicked off from the wall and broke into a quick backstroke away from Sam, who gave chase with a semi-breaststroke. He caught up with her and wrapped his left arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She couldn't touch the bottom of the pool but Sam didn't need to tread water. "We're getting a bit tired of the chase, Maura."

"I can't pick, Sam." She let her hands rest on his shoulders and her right leg came up to rest on his hipbone.

"You don't have to. We're all adults. We just want you to give happiness a shot."

"I am happy, Sam. Happier than I've been in years. Why ruin that with sex?"

"It could get so much better. You have to consider it. Don't know if Dean and I could take it much longer, listening to you at night with your toy, moaning our names."

"You eavesdroppers." She whispered.

"It was an accident. Not an excuse, but..." Dean was suddenly behind her, his hand resting on the thigh of the leg wrapped around his brother. "Hearing you moan my name gave me the sweetest dreams."

Maura closed her eyes as heat filled her stomach and threatened to burn her up. "Charlie's gone." Sam reached down and grabbed her other thigh, placing it in a mirrored position to her other leg.

"She saw where this was going. Please, let us take this where we all want it to go."

Maura opened her eyes, feeling Sam's hazel eyes boring into her. "Okay." She whispered.

She could feel Dean smiling behind her. "You sure?"

"We're persistent but we don't want to push you into anything you don't want."

Maura reached her right hand backward, grabbing the back of Dean's head and forcing him closer. "I'm 27. I've wasted half my life on idiots and now I'm sandwiched between the two hottest men I've ever met and you both want _me_. Pushing me past my anxieties is not pushing me into something I don't want. It's making me go for what I _do_."

Dean turned his head and attached his lips to her neck. "Not in the pool, Dean. Let's do this right." Sam pulled her away from his brother and waded toward the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to get this out. I had an extraordinary amount of trouble with the 'I Never' sequence for some reason. Next chapter will probably be a little bit of time, too, but sex will be had.


End file.
